Syllable contact and epenthesis in Yakut loanword phonology

Consonant clusters tend to be reduced by deletion or repaired by epenthesis during the process of inter-language change. Yakut (or Sakha), the language of the Republic of Sakha, Russia, follows this general tendency. Since Yakut allows only one consonant in the syllable-initial position, all clusters in the Russian loan words into Yakut are reduced either by deletion or epenthesis. This paper examines this phenomenon and proposes the following. First, Yakut loanword adaptation can best be analyzed by adopting the split structure for sC sequence. Second, assuming the split sC structure, the /s + stop/ sequence does not violate the Syllable Contact Law (SCL). Third, the SCL applies only to sC clusters, but not to CC clusters. Fourth, CC clusters, but not sC sequences, are true onset clusters and have to break up in accordance with Yakut syllable structure. Finally, the single-member syllable with /s/ as coda needs a vowel as nucleus in Yakut loanword adaptation. Since /s/ is coda, edge epenthesis is the only possible repair strategy.